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Kan. bill toughens laws on human trafficking

Legislation that would heavily amend Kansas laws regarding human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of young women is expected to be signed by Gov. Sam Brownback in the coming weeks.

The bill passed the House and Senate easily last week. It creates the crime of commercial sexual exploitation of a child, covering those ages 14 to 17, as well as making other modifications to Kansas human trafficking laws passed nearly a decade earlier.

“These are crimes that thrive in the shadows. Finding them and proving them are a difficult challenge,” said Attorney General Derek Schmidt. “The problem is finding people who know what’s going on being willing to come forward and talk. When people have confidence that the state takes this conduct serious, that will change.”

The bill also will establish a fund that will be financed with fines and forfeiture of property from those convicted of the sex crimes. The revenue will be used to pay for treatment and services for the victims of the crimes.

“For the first time, we will have a dedicated system for supporting trafficking victims,” Schmidt said. “Those who create the demand for the sex trafficking of children should help pay to make the victim whole again.”

Schmidt, a former Republican Senate majority leader, announced he was seeking the legislation in January, joining fellow Republican Brownback in seeking the changes. Brownback worked on federal trafficking laws in the U.S. Senate with the late Minnesota Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone.

Schmidt said it was difficult to know the extent of human sex trafficking. Kansas will be a more active partner in cracking down on the crimes under the new legislation, which would take effect in July.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said local law enforcement worked 45 human trafficking cases in 2012 and that 25 cases since 2008 have led to charges. He said one defendant was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for purchasing sex with a 13-year-old girl. The man who provided the girl for sex was sentenced to life.

Bennett said the victims include girls from the community as well as those who are brought to Wichita. In some cases, the girls are brought to Kansas from other states.

“The common link is they are vulnerable kids,” Bennett said. “They are running from something and are turning to a support system, if there is any at all.”

Bennett and Wichita State University researcher Karen Countryman-Roswurm said they hope the new legislation and similar efforts change how the girls involved in the crimes are perceived.

“The other thing is the change in philosophy, eliminating the word ‘prostitution’ from the statutes,” Bennett said. “When you eliminate it and call it what it really is, commercial sex, that is at least a recognition that the stated policy of the state is that the behavior isn’t acceptable.”

Countryman-Roswurm has made helping young trafficking victims her life’s mission. She leads the Center for Combating Human Trafficking at Wichita State, a multidisciplinary center focused on curtailing human trafficking and providing treatment and transitional services to victims. She testified in support of the measure during legislative hearings.

“I think it is great forward progress. It’s not perfect, but it takes us so far in recognizing that human trafficking survivors are victims that have been subjugated and not prostitutes and criminals,” she said.